Chains Saga pt4
by Dax Jackson
Summary: Life is exciting for Chains Alister, and he knows how to handle it. Can he handle being a normal teenager?


I go to my afternoon classes. Thankfully, lunch went by without a hitch. I didn't get into any fights, and my friends and I talked and laughed the entire period. I sit in the back again, and Ruby's team looks like something happened. I noticed during lunch that Weiss was shooting icy daggers at Ruby with her eyes. Ruby was trying to forget it, but I have a feeling that Weiss said something that really hurt her. I sit next to her, trying to gague exactly what happened. I try to focus on my oldest friend, but the bunny-eared girl sits right next to me. "Are you alright?", I whisper, keeping an eye on where the teacher goes. Ruby sniffles, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. "I'm fine.", she whispers, her fingers tapping slowly. Slower than they should be. I leave her alone after that, but I feel like I should be helping her. Yang snores softly in the row behind me. Her friend with the jet-black hair is busy reading some book. Weiss is the only one taking notes, the only one who gives a damn. At the end of the day, I go to the roof. The sun is starting to set, and I'm too out of it to notice when the curfew bells start to ring. They sound like a countdown as I run to my dorm room. After vaulting over several benches in the courtyard, I barely miss trampling the bunny-eared girl. Instead, I run into a wall, falling hard. She runs, kneeling in front of me. "Are you alright?", she asks, sounding genuinely worried. I look up, and her chocolate brown eyes meet my grey ones. Her equally beautiful brown hair is long and wavy. I can smell mint-scented shampoo. "Uhh..uhhhh", I stammer, unable to function with this beautiful girl in front of me. Her bunny ears are perked up a little bit. From this distance, I can tell that they are very real. "I'm so sorry! I should've gotten out of the way.", she says, apologizing for something that was my fault. She is extremely cute. My heart is beating impossible fast. I feel like I'm in the middle of a battle. A battle to not look like an idiot. "That's alright. What's your name? I've seen you in class.", I ask impulsively, not comprehending my inability to think rationally. As if I ever did that to begin with. "Sophie. You're Chains, right?", she says, her head tilted slightly. Her cute ears tilt with her. "Uhhh...Yeah.", I croak, trying to keep in all the stupid things I could say. "Are you sure you're alright?", she asks again, almost insisting that I need something, anything. I nod, finally getting up. I run back to my dorm, shouting goodbye over my shoulder. I burst into my room, closing the door quickly behind me. I try to relax my bunched-up muscles, but I can't. As a remedy, I train with hand-to-hand combat until I'm totally exhausted. After that, I fall soundly asleep. Thanks to my blaring son-of-a-bitch alarm clock, I wake up with enough time to get to class early. Nora is there, bouncing in her seat. Ren has his head down, probably asleep. Pyra is studying, helping Jean with the homework. I take the pitifully small amount of notes I wrote down yesterday in front of me, leaning back in my chair. Sophie walks into the room, eliminating any grogginess and illuminating everything. I try to hide my face, but she sees me anyway. Sophie smiles and waves, and I look behind me. At the wall. After determining that she waved at me and not the wall behind me, I return the wave. She sets her bag down, her ears twitching slightly. And cutely. I try to focus today, but the world is not on my side. Sophie is distracting me, first and foremost. Some asshole keeps messing with Jean, so I try hard not to kick his ass. There were a few close calls, though. We walk to lunch, our little group talking and laughing. The lecturer comes to me in that hallway, and I know he's come for me. "Come with me, Mr. Alister. You have work to do.", he says in a grave tone. I don't want to leave my friends, but it doesn't seem like I have a choice. I put my hand on Jean's shoulder, squeezing good-naturedly. "Hang in there.", I say quietly, saying goodbye to my friends. I think of saying goodbye to Sophie, who is in the hallway as well. Before I can muster up the courage to speak, the Lecture-King whisks me away. "What is it that I'm doing?", I ask, walking slowly to compensate for the short, stocky man. "Mercenary training. No weapons, but you can use your armor.", he says, looking straight ahead. "What am I up against?", I say, thinking I'm prepared for anything. We reach a metal door, massive and unmovable. He prepares to open it. "You'll find out.", he says, opening the safe door and pushing me in. He shuts the door loudly behind me. I'm in a stark white room, like a hospital. There are openings in the wall, closed for now. "Are you ready to begin?", says the Professor's voice from an observation window high above me. Befor I can answer, a Beowulf comes out of one of the openings. I smile. I don't know why I'm here, but I know what I can do. My armor encloses around me, protecting me. My balled fists are now clawed and armored. The Beowulf charges, and I charge, too. I duck under a powerful swing, launching the creature with my fist. I sprint to where it lands, grabbing the arm that tried to kill me. I throw the Beowulf into the air, jumping up to follow it. I kick it into the wall, catching it on my knee as it falls. The Beowulf falls at my feet, and I look up at the window in the wall. "Satisfied?", I ask dryly, flinging blood of my armor made of night. "Send them all.", another voice says, this one cold and emotionless. I almost think it's a recording. It can't be, though. The voice speaks with too much malice. All the doors open, and a pack of Beowolves stalk around me. I laugh, making sure they can hear me. "This is more like it! Bring it on!", I say, crouching down. The Beowolves growl at me, and I growl back, a snarl on my face. I slash one in the chest, flipping over it. I land on my hands, launching my feet in the creature behind the one I cut. My new target is sent flying into the wall. The pack converges on me, but I'm smart enough to get out of the way. I use a few pouncing Beowolves as stepping stones to the observation box. They said I couldn't use my weapons, but I never heard that I couldn't use my other toys. I take out two pouches of Red Dust, made from black cloth. I push off at the pack of killing machines, coming down at the middle. My entire life, I've had an instinctive knowledge of Dust. Now I use that information to ignite my impromptu bombs. I open the pouches with my teeth, spreading the contents in a circle around me It creates an outward blast of fire, clearing my immediate surroundings. Only a few Beowolves remain, and one of them pounces from the wall. I roll under its flight path, pouncing on its back. I slit its throat with my finger. Only two creatures remain. I use my claws to hook one of them, running it into the wall. The wall cracks, and I run up its side. The last enemy follows, but I push off, flipping again. I use my chains alone, bringing the Beowolf down with me. It makes a crater, dying with a short yelp of pain. I sit down, exhausted. I'm covered in blood and ash. I chuckle at my appearance. "Yeah, this is about right.", I say out loud, to no one in particular.

In addition to private training, my regular classes have been pitting students against each other in public duels. I hate them for allowing the assholes and their cohorts to humiliate the weaker. I'm the last of the guys to go, after Jean's humiliating defeat. He tries to cheer me on as I walk up to the stage, but I can see how much it hurt his pride. His family is famous for producing warriors. Mine are all gone. My opponent is some asshole that I don't even know the name of. He has a spear as a weapon. I call my armor to me, pulling my swords out of their sheathes. "You're going down.", he says, swinging the tip of his spear around. It traces several irregular circles in the tension-filled air. I laugh, bouncing on my toes. "What are you laughing about, dipshit? Don't you know you'll lose?" , Asshole shouts at me, his shoulders bunching up. I don't know how he got into Beacon. His stance is horrifyingly flawed, and the way he holds his weapon is atrocious. He charges me, holding his spear above his head. "Dumbass.", I say quietly, delighted at an easy fight. He tries to stab me form above, but the shaft runs along my blades. I kick him in the chest, letting the spear fall behind me. Defenseless, he falls on the floor. His aura level is about half of what it used to be. I turn to the teacher supervising the duel. "Am I done?", I ask, not really feeling the need to fight. She shakes her head, showing no signs of ending the fight. Asshole charges like a bull at me, but I easily sidestep him. Maybe I should've stopped his advance, because he picks up his spear. Asshole's face is red, and I find out why. The audience of students is laughing at him. Guilt creeps through me, but it is crushed by all the hell he's caused people. The spear spins and rotates around him as he stalks closer. After leveling it at me, Asshole runs his spear toward my chest. I jump on the spear point, using it as a springboard into the air. I use my swords to grapple back to the ground, my feet making painful contact with Asshole's back. An alarm shrieks once, notifying me to victory. My armor returns to its place, and I step down from the stage. Everyone cheers, especially Asshole's victims. Sophie is looking at me, an absent-minded smile on her face. Once our eyes meet, she blushes and turns away. I try to keep myself from smiling like an idiot. "Nice job, Chains.", Pyra says, nodding. "I still think you should've broken his legs.", Nora pouts, arms crossed. I sigh. "Maybe next time.", I say, definitely not meaning it. It's not that I didn't want to, because I absolutely did. The only thing stopping me is the oppurtunity for a new life at Beacon. Sophie makes me think that not everyone is afraid of me. For our next class, our teacher pairs us up for sparring. This is when they let us change into our athletic clothes. The guys change in our locker room, but I stay in the corner. I change into a pair of athletic shorts and a sleeveless shirt I got for killing a Grimm scorpion. We are sparring outside, and the weather is perfect. A few scattered clouds streak along the deep blue sky, but the sun shines brightly. A soft breeze flows along the field, like a whisper in my ears. My chains still circle my arms, and everyone stares at them. They stare like I'm some sort of freak. When the teacher calls the pairs, I close my eyes. With my tremendously terrible luck, I'll end up with Asshole. Or any of the other bullies. I run the scenarios through my head, the takedowns I'll use. "Chains and Sophie! Pair up!", the teacher yells, moving on immediately. Sophie's ears perk up, but so do mine. My mind goes into a frenzy. What am I going to say? What am I going to do? My heart rate picks up as Sophie walks towards me. Her beautiful brown hair is flowing in the wind, like a banner of perfection. Her features are small and delicate, a smile makes my knees weak. In perfect guy fashion, my eyes start to travel down from her face. With a mental grunt of effort, I control myself. "Get a hold of yourself, Casey.", I hiss under my breath. "Are you ready?", she asks, already in a fighting position. A weak one, proportionate to her ability. I get ready as well. "Here I go!", she shouts weakly, coming at me with a wild and small fist. I sidestep, resisting the animalistic urge to counter and eliminate. She kicks at my stomach, but I gently bring her bare leg down. "The winner gets the better grade!", the teacher shouts, and everyone immediately gets serious. Sophie becomes faster, stronger. I duck under a punch and roll away from a foot coming down. I dodge a flurry of attacks. I don't want to hurt her, but I want the grade, too. She punches again, this time with power behind it. I use its momentum to get behind Sophie. I hold her arms in an X against her chest, which heaves with heavy breathing. "Give up. I don't want to hurt you.", I whisper into her ear, the adrenaline steadying my voice. "What are you doing? Let me go!", she hisses, struggling. Her body is pressed against me, and my heart can't take it. I let go, and she stumbles forward. Her face is red, embarrassed like me. She runs at me, I wasn't expecting that. She jumps on me, and we both fall down. Her face is inches from mine. Her ears are completely upright. Her body is on top of mine, both of us are sweaty. I think my heart might explode. She pins my arms to the ground, refusing to let me go. "You give up.", she gasps. In a flash, our positions are switched. My hands pin her arms down, and I look at her with a hard expression. She squirms, but I don't let go. All at once Sophie stops squirming, looking up at me. Her expression is one of yearning. I keep my feelings hidden. Our faces become even closer together, centimeters apart. "I've always wondered what it was like to be closer to you, this isn't what I expected.", she says, a teasing tone in her voice. I release Sophie, getting up quickly. "What did you expect?", I ask, my voice very close to squeaking. I hear the bell ring, and everyone starts to go inside. "Meet me after ninth period. On the roof.", she says, kissing me on the cheek before running inside. I stand there for a short five minutes, trying to remember my name. I walk back inside, in a daze. What the hell was that all about?


End file.
